Howard Berman: “I think this is a very historic piece of bipartisan legislation. Just as Jackson-Vanik became a tool to deal with one…”

“I think this is a very historic piece of bipartisan legislation. Just as Jackson-Vanik became a tool to deal with one aspect of a horrible set of policies by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, we now, using the Magnitsky legislation, deal with some very serious human rights issues remaining in Russia, but not in the context of restricting trade but in the context of deepening our economic relationship with Russia. I think what this legislation does altogether, in combination, is promote both that economic relationship and shared adherence to common standards of human rights democracy and the rule of law. I urge its support, and I yield back the balance of my time.”